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When I first started drinking “loose leaf tea” (this is neither tea nor leaf, but… whatever) I had been strictly caffeine-free for years. The rooibos in my Adagio herbal sampler was a real standout, and it was practically the only thing I drank. I bought a pound of it, which is still my biggest single-variety purchase ever.

My job has led me back into the world of mandatory morning caffeine, and I’ve since fallen in love with black teas, and it’s been ages since I’ve really had a cup of rooibos. And as I said in my recent post about rooibos caramel, I finally got an infuser that works really well with it… and, I might have to bring it back into a nightly habit.

I’ve begun to embrace Steep.it and an attempt at properly brewing teas… No longer so wabi sabi.

I love this tea. I’ll be so sad when it’s gone.

A bit grassy, but not in a bad way. I was expecting it to be a little more “black” in flavor… it’s got a very different feel to it. I see people saying it tastes like oolong, green… and even Fruity Pebbles. I don’t know that any of those really describe it fully, but I can get a sense of each of them. There’s something else, too, that I can’t put my finger on. I almost want to say tobacco, but not in the same way that rooibos tastes like tobacco. Strange.

I can’t decide if I’ve just gotten used to the lavender, or there hasn’t been as much in my cups lately… I’m kind of thinking it’s the latter, and I’ll be super-sad if all of the lavender in the tin was somehow on top.

Second steeping (and 100th tasting note!)

This is the first time I’ve had a second morning cup… so, I’d say that’s a good sign, As much as I like my strong black teas lately, the smoothness of this is wonderful.

This is my first oolong, and I wasn’t sure what to expect. It’s very mellow. Soft and sweet. I’m getting just a bit of the fruity flavor, and the flavor of the tea is fairly delicate.

That being said, I don’t know that I paid as much attention as I should have to the steeping, as I was dealing with the fact that I just found out the doughnut I had been looking forward to eating had been… nibbled. Darn cat.

My first early morning cup in quite some time… Had to cut back on caffeine for awhile. I got up, filled the kettle, sat down and waited for the whistle. And waited. And waited.

You know what helps the kettle boil? Turning on the burner. Yeah… this cup couldn’t have come soon enough.

May have brewed it a little weak today. I’ve been brewing single cups lately, so I think I forgot how to properly brew a pot. Still good, though. I love love love Indian black teas.